Understanding Obesity and Weight Management

The NHS is struggling to cope with the growing problem of obesity and joining a commercially-run weight loss group isn’t the answer for many overweight people.

That’s the verdict of health experts based at the University of Teesside who are about to launch the country’s first university-accredited course to train non-health professionals working with obese people.

Targeted at carers, leisure workers, community workers and commercial weight loss groups, the programme will be piloted with Middlesbrough Primary Care Trust. The eventual aim is to introduce it to every part of the country.

Dr Beckie Lang, a research fellow with Teesside University’s School of Health & Social Care and her colleague, Professor Carolyn Summerbell, are convinced the course, starting in January, will encourage more people to launch locally-run community-based weight management programmes.

“We’ve developed it with the Association for the Study of Obesity to increase awareness and understanding of obesity and weight management, especially to people with no formal training in this area. There are courses for nurses, medics and other health professionals in Glasgow and Liverpool, but ours will be the first for those working in the community,” said Professor Summerbell.

She has already evaluated a pilot weight management group working in the Whinney Banks areas of Middlesbrough and the findings have played a key role in developing the Teesside course, which runs over 11 Tuesday morning sessions from 4 January, 2005.

Understanding Obesity

Dr Lang said: “The NHS can’t cope by itself with the problem of obesity and some people are put off by the larger commercially-run weight-loss groups because they can find their approach intimidating.

“What we would like to see is more support for local people in local groups to run their own weight management programmes. These are the people who know the issues facing people in different areas and there may be different approaches required to running a weight management group in a parish in Devon to those best suited to Middlesbrough or Scotland,” said Beckie.

She stresses the University Certificate in Professional Development in Weight Management is not about how to lose weight but a programme designed for people wanting to run weight management groups.

It will cover everything from calculating Body Mass Index and understanding the classification system for overweight and obesity to recognising differences between healthy eating and various dietary regimes. Specifically, it will stress the role of positive attitude in weight management and the need for confidence when running a group.

The course fee is £375, which may be waived for NHS employees.

To apply contact: Admissions Department, School of Health & Social Care, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BA.

If the media need further information they can contact Dr Beckie Lang - on b.lang@tees.ac.uk or email carolyn.summerbell@tees.ac.uk

Digital photographs of either Dr Lang or Professor Summerbell available from University Photographer via j.hume@tees.ac.uk or pr@tees.ac.uk

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